Small Hallway Makeover
Before
This hallway has a small linen closet and leads to our guest bedroom, guest bathroom, and office. It’s not a very large hallway, so I figured this would be a quick project to complete. The hallway and the main living area of our house have a dated chair rail throughout. I REALLY wanted to get rid of the chair rail and two-toned grey walls. With that being said, I was nervous about removing the chair rail. I had no idea how much drywall repair would be needed to make the wall look seamless, but I figured the hallway was the best place to start! I also wanted the door trim and baseboards in the hallway to match the recently renovated laundry room. The baseboards in the hallway and the main living area were installed BEFORE the tile, making them difficult to remove (thanks previous homeowners). The linen closet in this hallway needed a makeover as well. The blog post for that project is coming soon! Let’s get into the project.
Demo
Removing door trim
Door trim and chair rail removed
To kick off this project, I needed to remove everything that wasn’t staying. I started by removing the chair rail and door trim. The steps for removing both the chair rail and the door trim are relatively the same. I used a utility knife to cut through any caulking between the trim and the wall, which helps minimize pulling off wall paint along with the trim. Next, I used a putty knife and hammer to pry the trim away from the wall. Once a larger gap was made between the trim and the wall I switched to a heavy-duty bent scraper instead of a putty knife. The bent scraper can be placed up against the wall then the curved claw end of the hammer can pry without worrying about damaging the drywall. Of course, there are plenty of ways to remove trim, this is just how I did it.
The baseboards were a bit harder to remove because they were partially covered by tile. I used the same techniques as listed above to start prying the baseboard away from the wall. The baseboard kept breaking into pieces every 6 inches or so. I needed to break up the grout between the tile and the baseboard to give more room for prying. I used a small wood chisel and hammer to break up the grout. Once there was a little more room between the tile and the baseboard, I used the wood chisel to get underneath the baseboard and pry upwards. I had to work in small sections at a time, but I got all the baseboards in the hallway removed without damaging the wall or tile! I will continue removing the chair rail, baseboards, and door trim in the rest of the house one room at a time.
Drywall repair
Applying joint compound
Drywall repair before sanding
Drywall repair after sanding
After removing the chair rail there was an area on the wall that needed to be filled in with joint compound to be even with the rest of the wall. Drywall repair is NOT one of my favorite jobs, it makes a huge mess and as a DIYer it’s hard to get it perfect. My method for filling in the concave area was to put on more joint compound than was needed, attempt to feather out the edges, and then leave it to dry. Once dry I sanded the joint compound down using a sanding block until it felt even with the rest of the wall, then inspected the wall with a flashlight to look for imperfections. I added a second coat of joint compound to low areas and sanded down any high spots again after drying. Before painting, I primed the repaired areas with Rx-35 PRO-999. To my amazement, this came out SO GOOD, you can’t see any sign that there was a chair rail there before!
Paint & trim
First coat of wall paint
New door trim installed
Installing baseboards
I wanted the wall color in the hallway to have some personality without clashing with any of the “permanent” fixtures in our house (mainly the floor tile). I went to Home Depot and Benjamin Moore and basically grabbed every blue paint swatch they had LOL. After much deliberation at home, I decided on Alfresco from Benjamin Moore in an eggshell finish. I used their regal select line. The color dries much darker than the paint swatch, but I still love it. I was very impressed with the quality of the paint, it’s thick and has great coverage. I did two coats of paint on the walls, but I probably could have gotten away with only doing one coat. I gave the ceiling a fresh coat of white paint as well.
For the trim in the hallway, I matched the new trim in the laundry room. I used 1 x 3 primed boards with a butt joint for the door trim and 1 x 4 primed boards for the baseboards. I made my measurements and cut all my trim on my Ryobi Miter Saw. I painted the trim before installing, it makes the job much easier! The paint color for all of the doors/trim in the house is Behr Silent White in a semi-gloss finish. The door trim and baseboards are attached to studs with 2’’ brad nails. I love my Ryobi Brad Nailer, it’s one of my favorite tools! After installing the trim I filled the nail holes with wood filler, caulked between the boards for a seamless look, and touched up the paint.
Grout refresh
Grout before
Grout after
I have no idea why, but the previous owners of our house used RED grout for all the tiles in the main living area. The grout was discolored in some areas and impossible to get completely clean. I decided to use Mapei Grout Refresh in the color Iron to give our grout a much-needed upgrade. I cleaned the grout and tiles thoroughly with Krud Kutter before applying the grout paint. I applied a line of paint to the grout and used a toothbrush to spread the paint evenly into all the crevices. The paint goes a long way; you don’t need very much. I let the paint dry according to the directions then used a wet paper towel to clean off any paint that dried on the tiles. This was a very simple process and was definitely worth the results, and I’m so glad I tried it! Now we have grout that is consistent and matches our tile.
After
This small hallway makeover has given me the confidence I needed to move forward with larger projects in our house. I couldn’t be happier with how the walls look after removing the chair rail, I thought FOR-SURE I would have to cover up that part of the wall somehow, but it turned out great! I love everything about this hallway now. I’m excited to continue some of these elements in the rest of our house.
Speaking of moving forward with new projects, the next room in the house that is getting a makeover is our dining room! I signed up for the Fall 2021 One Room Challenge, which is an event hosted twice a year by Linda Weinstein partnered with Better Homes and Gardens where featured designers and DIYers spend 8 weeks focused on transforming one room in their house. I will be sharing weekly updates on my blog, Instagram, and the ORC website starting next Thursday, September 30, 2021. I hope you guys will follow along!